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Interline CCD for still and video photography with extended dynamic range

  • US 20060082670A1
  • Filed: 09/14/2005
  • Published: 04/20/2006
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2004
  • Status: Abandoned Application
First Claim
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1. A method for reading out charge from an interlined CCD having a plurality of photo-sensing regions and a plurality of vertical shift registers, and each photosensitive region is mated respectively to a CCD of a vertical shift register and a color filter having a repeating pattern of two rows in which each row includes at least two colors that forms a plurality of 4 line sub-arrays sequentially numbered in the space domain;

  • and the color filter spanning the photo-sensing regions, the method comprising;

    (a) providing a plurality of pixels in which at least two or more pixels have a charge control structure used to change charge capacity during the integration time;

    wherein at substantially a beginning of an exposure time the charge capacity is altered to substantially zero by either the charge control structure or a read-out mechanism and the charge capacity is changed by the charge control structure throughout the exposure time;

    (b) reading out lines 3 and 4 into the vertical shift register that keeps the colors separated;

    (c) transferring charge in the vertical shift register to respectively align charge from lines 3 and 4 with lines 1 and 2;

    (d) transferring charge from lines 1 and 2 into the vertical shift register to respectively sum with lines 3 and 4; and

    (e) reading out the charge in the vertical shift registers in a manner in which different colors are not summed together.

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